(3° person POV)

Mirai sat down on the ground, breathing heavily. The sword on her hand falling on the ground, her hands aching with the constant exercise and the impact of the wooden blades.

(Tarou): “Are you okay, sis?”

Tarou asked, extending his hand to her to help her to get up, with is wooden sword on his hand. He’s also breathing heavily, with sweat coming down his forehead. Grabbing his hand and being pulled p, she says:

(Mirai): “I’m just a bit tired.”

She said, patting her new clothes. They aren’t fancy, brown pants and hemp shirt, a bit tattered due the fighting against her brother. She looked at her own hands, with mixed feelings. She never though that she would be wielding a sword and train with her brother in how to use it properly.

Even so, there’s a sense of incongruity. She doesn’t remember ever wielding a sword, but when she held the wooden sword for the first time, there was a sense of familiarity. It felt natural when she held it, and when she swung it, there was a certain experience.

When she exchanged attacks with Tarou, he made a strange face. When she asked, he answered:

(Tarou): “I don’t know. I never used a sword before, but when I took on this wooden sword I felt like I used one before.”

He said. Mirai looked up, to the starry night sky. She’s surprised by her stamina. She has been fighting her brother all day until late at night. The reason was that she was said that she would be going out with her class to defeat monsters soon.

The others from her class aren’t worried as her. Akira convinced them that it wouldn’t that dangerous, since the soldiers would escort them. and Mirai also though so, because it’s true. It would be a trip just to adapt them to kill something. It would be extremely hard for them to hurt themselves.

However, there was a certain feeling of urgency, as if something was going to go completely wrong. After parting ways with her brother, she went to her room and took a bath in the magic bathtub that can fill itself with water and heat itself.

While submerged on the water, she thought about what she has been feeling recently. The constant feeling of incongruency, of something missing. Something important. Today, this feeling was stronger than never when she held the sword.

Even now, she’s looking at her hand, wondering what this feeling means. Sighing, she got out of the bath, dressed some clothes and went to sleep. And as soon she slept, she had a dream.

(Male voice): “Your feet still are on the wrong position.”

(Mirai): “How the hell do you even know that?”

She says to the man in her dreams. She can’t see his face perfectly, only his closed eyes. His both hands holding a wooden cane. She sighed, trying to adjust her position. The boy inclined his head for a second, and then approached, touching her feet with the cane.

(boy): “A bit further away…”

Adjusting her position, she felt the cane then touched her shoulder.

(boy): “Keep your back straight, that’s important.”

As she swings the wooden sword in her hands, she asks:

(Mirai): “You must have trained a lot to be able to do what you did yesterday to those thugs.”

She said while focusing on the swings. The boy just laughed.

(boy): “Yeah, I did. Your shoulders are a bit stiff, try to relax a bit.”

The boy said, standing behind he and touching her shoulders. A shiver ran down her spine, and her face got hotter. She was thankful that the boy couldn’t see her face, because she would die of embarrassment.

(boy): “Oh, your shoulders got even more tense just now. Did something happen?”

(Mirai):” N-nothing.”

She says, swinging the sword worse than before. Smiling again, the boy said:

(boy): “Again.”

She woke up with a jump, the warm light of the sun entering her room through the window. Touching her head, she tried to remember the dream that she just had. She couldn’t remember the dream anymore, just a warm sensation on her shoulders.

(On the other side of the continent)

Akatsuki felt the sour taste of the piece of green apple that Faeleena offered to him. He smiles to the elf with purple hair, and she smiles back, although he can’t see her smile. A complete pink atmosphere of a lovestruck couple… at least from Faeleena’s view, as her face is flushed pink, and a dreamy smile in her face.

However, the sound of a throat being cleared cuts off the atmosphere, making both come back to the real world. Faeleena immediately glares at the man who interrupted her moment, while Akatsuki just smiles calmly and says:

(Akatsuki): “Oh, forgive me, I forgot about you.”

He said to the hulking pile of muscles, with light wrinkles in his handsome face with bald head. This man is the Supreme Guldimaster of the Adventurer’s Guild, the Demon Bear Donovan. One of, if not the strongest human alive, able to wrestle a dragon to submission.

(Donovan): “I’m sorry, Lord Yakumo, I didn’t mean to stop your business.”

(Akatsuki): “Don’t worry, I’m not offended.”

(Donovan): “I am offended, though…”

He said. However, he didn’t dare to say that, sweating cold on his back, fearing for his life. There aren’t many people in this world that can offend or look superior on Donovan. The reason for that is the Adventurer’s Guild, a world-wide organization, working for many countries without being commanded by them.

They are almost mercenaries that stay within the law, working more for the people and extremely rich and influential. Donovan’s status is then almost high enough as a king, and he doesn’t need to bend his knee to no one besides the merchant’s guild Supreme Guldimaster, someone that’s completely above him.

However, he is now forced to bow down to this young man. Not because he has money or status, but he has pure and raw power. Donovan lived a long live of 60 years, fought many beasts and many foes, besting most of them, save for a few that he couldn’t hope to defeat.

The words of the Merchant’s Guild Supreme Guldimaster, Milena, descendent of the founder of the guild, more than a thousand years ago, are still sounding on his head.

(Milena): “Don’t you dare to offend Lord Yakumo, he is powerful enough to hold a sword made purely of God’s Blood. You know how it is to have a sword made of that metal. If you misstep he will kill you before you notice.”

He didn’t believe at first when he heard about it. He indeed knew the black metal known as God’s Blood. The black metal appeared around a thousand years ago, in already processed ingots. The metal is full of mysteries, impossible to forge by any normal smith.

Weapons made with the metal have less than 1% of it mixed with metal, normally mixed with an alloy of adamantite and mithril. The metal, only forged by dragons and dwarves master smiths, is famous for its properties.

It not only is perfect for making magic flow without waste, it also amplifies the magic, making way more powerful than normal, and also being so hard that is considered impossible to bent outside a forge. The wet dream of every spellsword.

The amount that can be found around the world is limited, since it’s not naturally mined. The only place where is known to produce the metal. The Blackrock Tribe at the foot of the Blackrock Tree. The isolated tribe doesn’t sell the metal, but it can be found on the heads of the arrows of the tribe’s legendary archers.

Donovan himself was once wounded by the arrows, making a scar that never stopped aching. And because of that, he can “hear” the metal. God’s Blood is a metal with unique properties. At first, if not touched, the metal doesn’t do anything. However, in the moment that you touch the metal, you turn “attuned” to it.

The metal “speaks” to the one who has touched it. Normally, it’s the sound of a echo, infinitely moving through a void, ominous and unstopping. However, the deeper effects show later by extended exposition to the metal.

Whispers, mutterings of knowledge. The knowledge could be anything, from epiphanies in magic, forging techniques, swordsmanship techniques, alchemy epiphanies. And, many times, corrupt knowledge, enough to drive mad it’s listener.

And now, Donovan is having headaches with the sound coming from Akatsuki’s cane, clearly where the sword is hidden. However, what bothered him more than anything is the wielder of the blade. The elf girl beside him, holding the plate full of green apple slices, now cracked due her grip, is clearly strong, probably as much as himself.

However, Akatsuki doesn’t give anything. No pressure, no presence, nothing. Like he is not there at all. He can’t even feel life coming from him, literally as if he wasn’t there. Sincerely, if he wasn’t looking at the boy right now, he wouldn’t believe that he exists.

(Akatsuki): “Well then, Guldimaster, I trust that you have our guide prepared.”

He said, his right hand resting at the top of his cane. Donovan could feel Akatsuki’s eyes staring at him from beneath the blindfold decorated with a purple tree.

(Donovan): “Yes, Lord Yakumo, our guide will guide you to the capital as quickly as possible.”

(Akatsuki): “Ah, I would actually like a guide that can guide us leisurely to the capital, with many stops on the way. I want to taste as much of this world as possible.”

(Donovan): “Y-yes, I will provide that.”

(Donovan): “I should change the guides, just for precaution.”

He though, smiling awkwardly. He hated to bow down like this, but he never felt the fear that this boy has instilled on him. What he could do? Be rude and being killed? He could only obey, as his survival instinct was screaming for him to do.